Baby shoes!

Baby H got his or her first package in the mail today and a pretty great gift it was...baby Toms! And while it might take a few months to grow into them, they are the best first pair of shoes I could ever think of. I first heard about Toms a handful of years ago and have since had a few pairs-including the pair I wore on our wedding day. The Toms tagline is "one for one" and the premise is that for every pair you buy, they give a new pair to a child in need somewhere around the world. So I pretty much love them and the baby ones...wow theyre awesome!

On another note, we are in week 24 now and the pregnancy journal book we have that gives a daily update on baby, mom and pregnancy facts in general told us this would be a BIG week. As in 6 ounces of growth for the baby. Which in turn, apears to also amount to a BIG week for me as seemingly overnight I randomly bump into things like the table when standing up and the counter when in the kitchen. And today, when I realized that it was not ok for me to attend Good Friday church without a shirt on...I was bailed out by a borrowed maternity tank top that I had stored away because "I don't need it!" Or maybe I didn't (in past tense) but now I do.

Thank you

If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you', it will be enough.


And so, it seems, 4 weeks post-surgery a 'thank you' prayer is in order. On one of my first few outings out of the house during the recovery, Kevin and I went to church on Sunday and heard our pastor give a sermon about why it is important to step outside of the fenced in circle of "regular" human behavior- thoughts, actions, and emotions. He suggested that this step would lead you to your "spiritual" world that sometimes elicits a different response and doesn't always intersect with the world's expectations.

Which got me thinking.

And realizing that in the lead up to the surgery, those moments of asking why- why us, why now- or those moments of pure pouting- life isn't fair!- are the examples of the world's ways. How could I challenge myself to step outside of that comfort? I realized I could say 'thank you.'

Thank you for this baby, who's first ultrasound revealed the cyst that needed to be removed that would otherwise have gone undetected for who knows how long, as it's size indicated it'd already been there for quite some time.

Thank you for the doctor who presented us with our options-surgery or not, leading us to our first big decision-making moment as parents. Parents who will undoubtedly make many, many more BIG decisions in our future as Mom and Dad.

Thank you for the surgery day and the days surrounding it. We learned our first valuable parenting lesson- no matter how hard we pray, how much we hope and wish and want and worry- there are somethings in our child's life that aren't in our hands. This is ok. Actually, this is probably for the best! We learned that our job is to set up the best possible situation that we are capable of, then let go of it and leave the rest to the experts- the teachers, the coaches, the surgeons- and God, who will keep our child in the palm of His hand when we can not. This is a lesson we started learning at 19 weeks instead of 19 years. Nonetheless, it's a lesson we are grateful for.

And on a lighter note, thank you for each little baby roll or kick that comes at 2 or 5am, what a great way to help prepare us for the sleepless nights that lie ahead with a newborn. A newborn we only have to wait 17 more weeks to meet!

Muscles

We LOVE this ultrasound image from today (almost 23 weeks)! There are a bunch of other pictures, of course, but catching the baby "flexing" is pretty priceless. I think it's the baby's way of saying "Don't worry about me,  I'm THIS strong!" or more accurately, "Stop worrying. I'm stronger than you think I am!"

Another good doctor's appointment/ultrasound is in the books. We'll go back in 4 weeks and if my math is correct bordering on the third trimester by that time. Can't believe how fast the time is flying...but luckily, for the baby's sake, Kevin and I picked out a crib this weekend so at least there will be a place to sleep.

Pi Day

We decided to start a new tradition today, after all it IS pi day (3.14 for the mathematically challenged).

Winding down the day with cherry pie and vanilla ice cream, and the Hawkeye basketball game. As is probably well known by now, we are a house-divided. I have come up with Rule Number 1 of watching Iowa games...always wear an Iowa State tshirt closer to your heart! I am also fond of reminding Kevin that the baby has Cyclone blood (literally) and a 9-month head start!

Not A Cooking Blog

Hello World. And no, I am not here to start a blog about cooking.

In case you didn't know, stir fry is sometimes called happy family on chinese restaurant menus because all the ingredients go together into one pan like one big happy family (to create something great- I added this part!). So actually, this blog is about our family- our marriage, our pregnancy, our baby once July rolls around- and our life's adventures.

I've realized over the last few weeks that I have a lot of things to share about these topics and a blog seemed to be the best way to get all the info to our family and friends. It took me all those weeks to come up with a name to start the blog so the entries are back-logged in my brain for now. Thankfully, the TV show Chopped, one of the few that Kevin and I agree on, and the baby conspired together to provide the perfect storm of a sleepless night filled with wandering thoughts and the tidbit about stir fry=happy family. And that's how this blog was born.

You'll have to wait until July to find out how the baby is born but in the mean time, I'll start from the most recent excitement and work my way around all the rest.

On Monday March 11, Kevin and I celebrated 7 months of marital bliss. The baby joined the party too by giving dad's hand a nice solid kick for the first time! I have been feeling baby movements and kicks since early February and have been trying for almost that long to coordinate Kevin's hand and the baby's movements so he could feel it too. In this unsuccessful process, the only thing I learned is that the baby is a big tease and has a mind of it's own! Anyway, happy 7 month anniversary to mom and dad from baby H.